History Features
Tom Mix’s Wild West
- Published June 10, 2013
- Written by Joe Johnston
The Pacific Northwest was far off Tom Mix’s range in 1909. Yet the Oklahoma cowboy was inspired by his past four years performing as a bronc buster for the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Wild West show near Ponca City.
Was Bass Reeves the Real Lone Ranger?
- Published June 10, 2013
- Written by Art T. Burton
With a budget of $250 million, this summer’s Disney movie, The Lone Ranger, will be the largest of any Western ever made in cinema history. Yet just who exactly was the Lone Ranger?
A Poor Man’s Search for Charlie Russell
- Published June 10, 2013
- Written by True West
When I entered graduate school at Colorado A&M College in the fall of 1954, my roommate hung a Charles M. Russell print on his wall: 1911’s Call of the Law.
As I’ve learned, Russell liked to leave the outcome of a scene to the viewer’s imagination, and this one was no different—what did those two guys do and what was the aftermath?
Stalwart Army Sweethearts
- Published June 10, 2013
- Written by Shelly Dudley
Wives and families accompanying their military husbands during wartime is nothing new in American history. Martha Washington spent winter encampment with her general husband during the American Revolution.
Bloody Siege at Milk Creek
- Published June 10, 2013
- Written by Richard Davis
On Tuesday, September 16, 1879, Fort Fred Steele’s telegrapher handed his post commander, Maj. Thomas Thornburgh, a letter.
